Under the auspices of Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Metini, President of Ain Shams University, and Prof. Dr. Ghada Farouk, Acting Vice President of the University for Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs, the Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs Sector at the university organized an awareness symposium on the safety of taking medication for chronic disease patients in conjunction with the celebration of the International Day for Patient Safety, where the Faculty of Medicine and Ain Shams University Hospitals organized the events under the slogan "Safety Medicine" in the presence of Prof. Dr. Hala Sweid and Faculty of Medicine, Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs, Prof. Dr. Maha Al-Tahwi, the Dean's advisor for health care quality affairs, Prof. Dr. Mai Hamza, Head of Clinical Medicines Department, Prof. Dr. Ahmed Abdel Salam Department of Clinical Medicines, Prof. Dr. Alaa Suleiman Department of Clinical Medicines.

Prof. Dr. Ahmed Abdel Salam, Professor at the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at Ain Shams Medicine, said that patient safety is an essential component of providing safe and high-quality health services, and one of the prerequisites for strengthening health care systems and making progress towards achieving effective comprehensive health coverage. Patient safety is one of the health care specialties, which aims to avoid the risks, mistakes and harms that patients may be exposed to while obtaining health care, Prof. Dr. Ahmed Abdel Salam, professor of medicine, said that the wrong use of medicines leads to some complications and harm to the patient.

Prof. Dr. Alaa Suleiman, Professor at the Department of Clinical Medicines, highlighted the importance of informing the doctor about all the pain or allergies the patient suffers from medicines and foods, and the patient may take some vitamins, nutritional supplements and herbs such as garlic tablets and green tea with some medicines that interact and affect the patient’s health, leading to blood clots and high pressure And we should avoid taking invalid or expired medicine, and we should ask the doctor about the relationship of the medicine to eating, because some medicines must be taken on an empty stomach and some after eating, and so on. The active substance of the drug used and these habits and errors that may affect the patient’s health in general must be avoided, and the patient must know the side effects of the drug in the event of a decrease or increase in the dose and the extent of its impact on the patient’s body. Medicines that are not available, and the dosage and timings of the medication must be adhered to. It is not recommended to use OTC drugs (nutritional supplements and vitamins sold outside pharmacies) because It is harmful to health and affects the patient's health and may lead to a sudden and sharp rise in pressure, and excessive use of analgesics may affect the patient's kidneys, and it must be ensured that the dose of treatment is used in the manner described by the treating physician.